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Women Need a Seat at the Table for Sustainable Development

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Rita Canul is from the Ejido San Agustín, a small community on the edge
of the last remaining swath of forest reserves in the state of Yucatán
in Southern Mexico. Throughout Yucatan, much of the forests have been
cut down to make way for expansive agriculture and ranching. In San
Agustin, though, Rita and her neighbors are implementing improved
agricultural and forestry practices so that they can spare their forests
from the same fate.

La Alianza Mexico REDD+, with the Mexican government, are working together for rural women to be recognized in their experience, capacities and contributions to sustainable forest management.

The community is taking an integrated approach to development,
considering all areas of their community as a whole and making decisions
based on what is best for the entire landscape. This includes more than
technical considerations about what type of agricultural practices to
implement—it also considers social diversity and inclusion.

In particular, Rita and several other community members have
identified the ways that men and women value different aspects of the
landscape and interact in distinct ways with the forest. By identifying
these gender differences, the community has been able to develop
strategies that take both men and women into account. Rita played a
leading role in the process and has now been elected as Coordinator of
the Regional Producers Group by her peers. In this role, she makes key
land-use decisions and leads the community’s approach to sustainable
landscape management.

Several years ago, though, Rita’s participation in this work wasn’t possible. In fact, it wasn’t considered relevant.

In Mexico, fewer than 20% of ejido and
communal land owners are women. Since communal land-use decisions are
taken by an assembly made up only of official land owners, women are
effectively left out of the process.Too often this leads to policies
that only consider a small part of the development picture. Women’s lack
of participation also leads to less compensation for women via subsidy
programs, less access to technologies, and fewer conservation benefits
on the management of these lands.

Mexico is not the only place this happens. Historically, across the
globe, women have been absent from policies, programs and projects for
the rural sector, especially in forest-based communities. This is
unfortunate, because women and men the world over value different
aspects of their landscapes. For example, in one workshop conducted by
The Nature Conservancy (TNC), both women and men were asked what forests
provide to the community. Most of the men identified values like timber
and game, while the women identified values like water and medicine.
It’s clear that all of these things are important, and policies related
to forest conservation and rural development need to consider the values
of both men and women if they are to be effective.

Research shows
that this is the case around the world—ensuring greater participation
of women in the governance structure for protecting a forest leads to
better resource conservation and regeneration. If we want to make
progress on these issues, women need a seat at the table alongside men.

Given the importance of incorporating a gender perspective in forest
conservation and rural development, TNC, working through the Mexico REDD+ Program,
financed by USAID, has pioneered an effort to place gender
considerations at the forefront of sustainable development efforts in
Mexico. Over the last six years, TNC along with the International Union
for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), has implemented a strategy to
effectively design and structure legal instruments and public policy for
gender equality in forest conservation. Through this work, gender
considerations were incorporated into eight different policies and
programs, including the National Climate Change Program and the National
REDD+ Strategy. This will ensure that Mexico’s path towards a rural
sustainable development model contains a gender perspective at the
forefront.

On top of the advancements in public policy, TNC has been working on the
ground in field projects with communities like Rita’s to implement
trainings on gender equity. TNC and our local partners, such as
Pronatura Sur and Bioasesores, developed capacity-building workshops
centered around three phases: discussing the differences between men and
women in relation to landscape management, identifying tools for
incorporating a gender perspective in forest conservation activities,
and incorporating the tools into the rural development project cycle.

The impact is most evident in cases like Rita, where a strong woman is
engaging her community and through her continued leadership ensuring
that gender stereotypes are questioned daily and a gender perspective is
incorporated into the conservation work in the community. More diverse
stakeholders are now coming to the table, identifying gender gaps and
helping to guide gender responsive actions in all sorts of community
projects.

Placing women at the center of this process allows for co-management of
these natural resources and will, in turn, help the world meet these
ambitious climate change goals. With new policies and programs, we can
begin to make real progress—but only if women have a seat at the table.

Visit nature.org/mexico for more information on The Nature Conservancy work in Mexico. The Conservancy has built strong partnerships with the Mexican and
local governments as well as several local partners. To sign up for their English/Spanish newsletter, click here (Note: the page is in Spanish).